...1862... As the Battle of Fredericksburg commenced, the Union troops were aided by fog in building of pontoon bridges and moving troops into position.
...1932... Very cold weather prevailed along the West Coast. San Francisco received 0.8 inch of snow, and at the airport the temperature dipped to 20 degrees. At Sacramento CA, the mercury dipped to 17 degrees to establish an all-time record low for that location. Morning lows were below freezing from the 9th to the 15th at Sacramento, and the high on the 11th was just 34 degrees. The cold wave dealt severe damage to truck crops and orange groves in the Sacramento Valley.
...1985... Phoenix, Arizona had their first measurable snow (0.1 inch) since February 2, 1939.
...1943... A wind gust of 64 miles per hour was recorded at Newport, Rhode Island, setting the record high for the date.
...1971... The high temperature peaked at 65 degrees at Newport, Rhode Island, breaking the record high of 61 degrees set back in 1911.
...1977... It was a super cold morning at Newport, Rhode Island when the wind chill fell to minus 13 degrees, breaking the previous record of minus 6 degrees that was set back in 1968.
...1983... The high maximum barometer record was broken at Newport, Rhode Island with a reading of 30.78 inches, breaking the record of 30.59 set back in 1968.
...1987... Low pressure over southwestern Ontario, Canada, brought snow and gusty winds to the North Central U.S. Winds gusted to 62 mph at Riverton WY. Snow and high winds in eastern North Dakota reduced visibilities to less than one hundred feet at times. Warm weather prevailed across the Southern Plains Region. Half a dozen cities reported record high temperatures for the date, including Del Rio TX with a reading of 89 degrees. Laredo TX and Kingsville TX tied for honors as hot spot in the nation with afternoon highs of 92 degrees.
...1988... Arctic cold invaded the central and eastern U.S. Sault Ste Marie MI reported a record low of 14 degrees below zero, and International Falls MN was the cold spot in the nation with a low of 25 degrees below zero. Temperatures remained below zero all day over parts of eastern Upper Michigan and northern New England.
...1989... Strong Santa Ana winds developed across southern California and parts of central California. Winds in Kern County of central California gusted to 100 mph near Grapevine. The high winds reduced visibilities to near zero in the desert areas, closing major interstate highways east of Ontario CA.
...1992... One of the fiercest "nor'easters" this century in was progress across the New York City area and the Mid Atlantic region. A 985 millibars (29.09 inches) low stalled over the Delmarva Peninsula. This combined with a 1035 millibars (30.56 inches) high pressure over Quebec set up an enormous easterly pressure gradient which resulted in winds exceeding hurricane force in many places and record high tides. Ambrose Light Station just southeast of New York City recorded sustained winds of 80 mph with gusts to 93 mph. Wildwood Crest, New Jersey reported gusts to 90 mph and New Holland, Pennsylvania measured 82 mph gusts. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the high winds broke a church steeple which fell onto and closed the Ben Franklin Bridge to New Jersey. Some of the worst coastal flooding ever associated with a nor'easter occurred as tides were pushed 3 to 6 feet above normal, resulting in widespread damage and beach erosion. LaGuardia Airport was closed due to flooding. The East River flooded Manhattan's FDR Drive, stranding dozens of motorists. Flooding at a Con Edison station shut down New York City's entire subway system for more than 3 hours. Tremendous snowfalls occurred at inland locations as the storm was a very slow mover. Piney Dam, Maryland was buried under 42 inches of snow to set a new state snowfall record for a single storm. Ogletown, Pennsylvania measured 36 inches of snow and Mount Storm, West Virginia recorded 32 inches.
...1998... Midland, Texas recorded 9.8 inches of snow on this date for its greatest snowstorm on record.
...2008... Heavy snow fell across southeastern Texas, southern Louisiana, and Mississippi. 9 inches fell at New Hebron, Mississippi, 8 inches at Amite, Louisiana, and 6 inches at Winnie, Texas. Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana both had their earliest measurable snowfalls on record. Baton Rouge, Louisiana recorded 3 inches and 1 inch was recorded at New Orleans, Louisiana.
...2010... The "Pineapple Express" - a meteorological event where southwest winds bring warm, moist air to the U.S. West Coast - produced record rainfall to the Pacific Northwest during December 11th-12th. Seattle experienced record daily rainfall two days in a row. The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recorded 1.42 inches of rain on the 11th, breaking the old daily record of 1.32 inches set in 1955. The next day, 2.19 inches fell, breaking the daily record of 1.70 inches set in 1966. The Stillaguamish River in western Washington state reached 21.06 feet at Arlington, tying the record set in November 2006. Flood stage for the river is 14 feet. The storm system also brought record warmth to the area. On December 14th, the temperature at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport reached 57, breaking the old daily record of 55 set in 2004.